Kotoba! (Japanese dictionary)

Used before google translate and I’ll continue to use forever! Absolutely the best Japanese dictionary in all my years of study.

I’ve been using this app for 10 years now and it has always been an invaluable asset. The interface is clean and intuitive, I’ve never encountered any bugs, and it has every feature I’ve ever needed.

All I need is Google translate and this! Google and similar translation apps are good for roughly translating whole text, but Imiwa? breaks down the vocabulary so you can make sure that you’re getting it right. It also breaks down the kanji to help you understand it more deeply, recognize patterns to help you remember it and understand similar characters, and get the stroke order right (which is a lot more important than you might think for writing).

Update: I’ve continued to use the new version. It is quite good, and the new capabilities are helpful. I appreciate that it is completely free and that the developer is responsive to bug reports. I will continue to use this as my primary Japanese dictionary app, as I have for many years. <br/>Original: I have been using this app for 5 years as my go-to Japanese dictionary, and creating vocabulary lists of words I’m studying. Today, I open it and EVERYTHING has changed, without warning. I can’t find anything. I wasn’t sure it was even the same app. I thought my vocabulary lists were gone until thankfully I found them under the “learning” tab. <br/>I’m not against progress or change and I think over time, it will probably be an improvement. But to roll out a complete revamp without any sort of tutorial or explanation on an app that so many have depended on for language learning for so long is very disruptive. I think it would have been fine if there was an explanation that your old data is still in the app and instructions on where to find it.

A lot of the problems this app used to have are no longer relevant as of July 2026. A huge new update was released with its own Anki-style memorization tab for JLPT kanji AND vocab. The stroke order animations for kanji are also updated, and various forms of the kanji (sōsho, Simplified Chinese) are shown on the kanji entries now too. After this update, I cannot recommend this app enough for serious learners of Japanese.

I’ve loved this app for YEARS. it’s an incredible resource. but the recent update and use of AI gives me pause.

Conjugation table gone? I don’t understand why you would get rid of such a simple and effective resource????? All the “examples” don’t help. It’s clutter and visually unappealing. “AI” doesn’t make up for it. I’ll go to a real ai resource if I want that.

It looks like trash, it’s harder to navigate, so much of it was clearly written with an LLM. Why did you change it?